Vallie Taylor share life through her "Eyes in the Alley |
| Posted by Storie (storiebook) on Jul 06 2009 |
According to historians, Vallie Fletcher Taylor was born in one of the Great Depression?s worst years--1932. She certainly recognized signs of poverty and lack when they came into focus, but at home, her family managed to create an ideal environment where reading and learning took top priority. The Fletchers were fortunate to live in San Antonio, where they could enjoy repeated visits to the wonderful old buildings erected during the Spanish and Mexican eras. That city whispers historic secrets from so many different cultures into your ear, no matter which direction you turn. Taylor believes that writing must have been genetically inherited, in her case. So many of her ancestors took time to record important events from their lives and pass them on to future generations. She dictated her own first stories and poems to her mother before she was introduced to the art of arranging alphabetical magic.
To most people, the Great Depression brings to mind shantytowns and fields buried in dust, breadlines and shuttered banks. For young Vallie Fletcher, it was a time when she startled her San Antonio neighbors by jumping off garage rooftops, convinced she can soar into the air. After all, that's what she did during a near-death experience at age two. It was a time when she looked into the face of a starving child, a face that would haunt her throughout her childhood. Segregation rules that did not make sense, sharing a classroom with four sets of twins, "medical" treatments and "health" rules that seemed as likely to kill as to cure, music and dance teachers collaborating with mothers who saw too many Shirley Temple movies trying to turn children into performers--all and more are combined in this fascinating memoir of a time that to many is no more than a notation in a history book in a place where the past is as much a part of the infrastructure as the streets.
"My true ace in the hole, as far as memory goes, is having been born in the first half of the 20th century, living surrounded by elders who lived in the 19th century and being able to enjoy a happy and healthy 21st-century life. It helped that my elders and ancestors were fond of writing memoirs. Those who didn't record events were wonderful tellers of tales.
I invite you to explore a time that was very different from the one in which you now live. Visit my neighborhood, which none of the residents considered "gloomy" or "dismal." Share a delicious meal with my family, who set a fine table despite "dark" and "disastrous" events occurring elsewhere in our nation. Ride a bus into downtown San Antonio where surroundings were tranquil rather than "brutish." Play games with me and my childhood friends. We were all too naive to realize we were "doomed."
I have attempted to sketch vignettes that will both elucidate and polish some of the many facets cut into that heavy and symbolic stone called the Great Depression," Taylor says.
Visit with Vallie Taylor at Storiebook Cafe on Saturday, July 25, and take home your own signed copy of her memoir, "Eyes in the Alley".
Last changed: Jul 06 2009
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